Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades Alternative Ending
by mayflower222
Summary: This story is a part of story, because this story is how "The House of Hades" should have ended. Percy, Annabeth, and Bob are in Tartarus near the Doors of Death. The trio has to formulate a plan to break the chains, keep the button held for 12 minutes, and have a person(s) go up the elevator. How will they deal with the situation? How will this affect the team?
1. Chapter 1

Heroes of Olympus: "Heroes of Olympus" Alternative Ending (Full)

Disclaimer: I do not own "Heroes of Olympus". I am just a big fan of the "Heroes of Olympus series. Most of the books were great. I just am not that happy about the way Rick Riordan ended "The House of Hades". So, I decided to change things a bit and write my own ending to "The House of Hades". Please give feedback on my story. Enjoy!

LXX- 70

Annabeth

(Left off with Percy, Annabeth, and Bob in Tartarus, nearing the Doors of Death. Tartarus has took on a human form, and said "Destroy them" to them.)

Of all the things he could have said, why did he have to say, "Destroy them!" If this is what it took to defeat save the world, Annabeth hoped for a grand victory party when they did. Or if they did. Monsters came from all directions in huge waves. Arai, telkhines, and many other demons had joined the party. She knew that they would be overwhelmed. Although, a crowd of monsters was surrounding one point. There seemed to be a large commotion as the monsters closed in. Looking closely at the swarm, she saw something that lifted her spirits.

A huge, beautiful yellow and green drakon stomped around, spitting poison. A red giant with scaly legs was riding on top of the drakon.

"Damasen!" Percy, Bob, and Annabeth yelled in unison. Damasen looked over, his eyes shining. He had a big grin on his face.

"You were right, Annabeth." Damasen shouted. "I chose a new destiny. Thank you." Annabeth's heart melted. She felt so touched that she had almost started crying. The happiness didn't last long, though. A wave of monsters charged towards them.

"Percy, Bob, Damasen," Annabeth shouted. "Cover me!" Percy nodded and started slashing his sword in huge arcs, driving away at crowds of wonderful monsters that wanted to rip their guts out. Bob and Not-so-small Bob got to work, clawing away at bloodthirsty demons. Damasen and the Maeonian drakon stomped on and eliminated oncoming spirits. The monsters all seemed eager to destroy them. Tartarus himself was picking his nails, looking rather bored. The monsters were distracted, but Annabeth knew that they could only be held off for a short time. Annabeth lunged toward the chains that kept the doors closed. WIth one swift lash of the bone sword, the first chain recoiled. She leaped towards the second chain on the opposite side, and heard an enormous growl behind her.

"Die!" It probably wasn't one of her friends. She turned around just in time to see a Cyclopes come down on her. Luckily, she rolled under his legs. When her sword came into contact with the second chain, the chain snapped. Ding! The elevator doors opened. The one-eyed beast striked again, this time with more luck. The spear sliced into her calf, leaving a nasty gash that Annabeth was too afraid to look at. Annabeth felt a jolt of pain throughout her and let out a cry of agony. She stabbed the cyclops' eye with her bone sword while he was distracted. She quickly tore ragged strips off her shirt with her teeth and tightly wound them around her leg. Meanwhile, the Cyclopes ran away, screaming and covering his eyes. Annabeth trudged in front of the doors that were already closing and put a foot between the panels. Turning around, she got a glimpse of the battle.

Koios and Bob grappled on the battlefield. Bob was covered in slash marks, looking exasperated. Koios wasn't looking good himself, either.

"Iapetus," Koios bellowed. "You betrayed me!" He came down with a spear. Bob rolled aside, narrowly missing the spear. He and not-so-small Bob kicked the Titan to the ground.

"I'm not Iapetus." Bob said back. "I'm Bob." Koios lay weak on the ground, but more demons kept coming.

Annabeth turned around and saw that Percy was standing ten feet in front of the doors, fighting off a cloud of arai, while slowly backing towards Annabeth. He was making progress, but he was panting hard, and covered in sweat. Annabeth was sure that the death mist had worn off, but Percy looked pale as a corpse. He killed an arai, and huge cut appeared on his ankle, oozing blood. The battle with Ares… Annabeth thought, Ares wants revenge. When Percy and Annabeth had been 12, Percy fought Ares, the war God. Ares had gotten a nasty cut on his ankle. It wrenched Annabeth's heart to see Percy be in pain again because of the arai. She pulled Percy to the doors, next to her.

Annabeth didn't want anymore heartbreaks, but when she looked at Damasen, she saw him falling onto his knees, a deep cut on his chest, and red puncture marks all over his scaly hide. The cut was oozing acid and blood that even Tartarus couldn't heal. The Chimera was hovering over him, fangs dripping with blood. Annabeth didn't know why she was in Tartarus. Damasen looked at her and Percy's direction, and croaked out an inaudible Go. Then, he fell flat on his face, twitched once, and didn't move again. Annabeth had to look away, for she almost broke down at the sight. It wasn't fair! The brave soldier had been suffering for so many years, and he risked his life for them. Damasen didn't deserve to die such a painful death. It wasn't the time, though. The doors were pushing at her foot, reminding her of the problem.

She looked at Percy who seemed grief-stricken, too. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other and held eyes for a second. They sent each other a silent message. One of them would have to hold the button, one of them would have to go up, and one of them would have to hold off the monsters. For Annabeth, the decision was easy. No way she was going to let her Seaweed Brain be the loyal one again. Mother, forgive me. She thought.

"Get in the elevator, Percy." Annabeth commanded, her voice cracking. "Bob can hold off the monsters while I hold the button."

"What? No way!" Percy exclaimed angrily. Annabeth pulled him close into a kiss, possibly the last time she would feel his lips pressed against hers. She knew that this would be her last stand, but the fact that she was saving Percy calmed her down. When she pulled away, Percy started to protest, but she pushed the doors opened wider and kicked him into the elevator where he fell on his butt. Her brave boyfriend tried to stand up, but was too weak. Tears were streaming down his face. It hurt Annabeth to see Percy so disconsolate, but she weakly smiled at him as a lone tear trickled down her face and said, "Bye, Seaweed Brain." The doors closed.


	2. Chapter 2

LXXI- 71

Percy

At that moment, Percy thought about the time Athena told him that his fatal flaw was loyalty. Hearing the thoughts in his head, he realized that Athena had been accurate. It should have been him that stayed in Tartarus! Percy wondered if he would ever forgive himself for what he did.

Percy would have rather fought every Titan in the world than be separated from Annabeth. Why didn't he put up more of a fight when he was pushed into the elevator? Annabeth changed his life. She was the best thing about being a demigod. Now, she was gone forever.

Leaving Bob was the second hardest thing he had to do. After falling into the River Lethe, Percy had told him that he would visit. He never did. Even when Bob regained his memory, he remained loyal to him and Annabeth. Bob was sacrificing himself by staying in Tartarus.

And Damasen, Percy was in debt of him also. Damasen left the safety of his home to fight with Annabeth, Bob, and Percy. After his time of misery, he was going to spend be slayed by monsters, again and again. Watching him die on the battlefield tore Percy's heart apart.

A barrage of anger and guilt flooded Percy. There were so many that he had to repay, but would never get the chance. The pain in his heart even distracted him from the pain in his ankle. As the elevator ascended, it took him a while to notice that the door panels were jiggling and starting to open. Percy stepped towards the doors and forced them shut with his hands, using all of his remaining energy fighting against the doors. At least he was too occupied to think about his failures. Rage was the only thing that kept him on his feet. The elevator went higher and higher up.


	3. Chapter 3

LXXII- 72

Hazel

(Nico, Jason, Hazel, Piper, Leo, and Frank were in the House of Hades. Leo and Hazel were standing at the entrance of a tunnel, about to find the Doors of Death and free Percy and Annabeth. The entrance collapsed, separating Hazel and Leo from the rest of the team.)

Author's note: This chapter was not written by me. This was from the original "Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades" written by Rick Riordan. I put this in here because this chapter did not need changing and was necessary for the plotline. Please excuse any changes in spelling and formatting, for I copied and pasted this from a pdf I found online. Everything is still correct and easy to understand. If you don't have a version of the real story and you are confused as you read this version, here is a link: file:/home/chronos/u-4672e3284d79a8663af6afa3b2c874ec34e5336b/Downloads/The_House_of_Hades_Heroes_of_Olympus_Bo_Riordan_

Hazel wasn't proud of crying.

After the tunnel collapsed, she wept and screamed like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum. She couldn't move the debris that separated her and Leo from the others. If the earth shifted any more, the entire complex might collapse on their heads. Still, she pounded her fists against the stones and yelled curses that would've earned her a mouth-washing with lye soap back at St Agnes Academy.

Leo stared at her, wide-eyed and speechless.

She wasn't being fair to him.

The last time the two of them had been together, she'd zapped him into her past and shown him Sammy, his great-grandfather – Hazel's first boyfriend. She'd burdened him with emotional baggage he didn't need and left him so dazed they had almost been killed by a giant shrimp monster.

Now here they were, alone again, while their friends might be dying at the hands of a monster army, and she was throwing a fit.

'Sorry.' She wiped her face.

'Hey, you know …' Leo shrugged. 'I've attacked a few rocks in my day.'

She swallowed with difficulty. 'Frank is … he's –'

'Listen,' Leo said. 'Frank Zhang has moves. He's probably gonna turn into a kangaroo and do some marsupial jujitsu on their ugly faces.'

He helped her to her feet. Despite the panic simmering inside her, she knew Leo was right. Frank and the others weren't helpless. They would find a way to survive. The best thing she and Leo could do was carry on.

She studied Leo. His hair had grown out longer and shaggier, and his face was leaner, so he looked less like an imp and more like one of those willowy elves in the fairy tales. The biggest difference was his eyes. They constantly drifted, as if Leo was trying to spot something over the horizon.

'Leo, I'm sorry,' she said.

He raised an eyebrow. 'Okay. For what?'

'For …' She gestured around her helplessly. 'Everything. For thinking you were Sammy, for leading you on. I mean, I didn't mean to, but if I did –'

'Hey.' He squeezed her hand, though Hazel sensed nothing romantic in the gesture. 'Machines are designed to work.'

'Uh, what?'

'I figure the universe is basically like a machine. I don't know who made it, if it was the Fates or the gods or capital-G God or whatever. But it chugs along the way it's supposed to most of the time. Sure, little pieces break and stuff goes haywire once in awhile, but mostly … things happen for a reason. Like you and me meeting.'

'Leo Valdez,' Hazel marvelled, 'you're a philosopher.'

'Nah,' he said. 'I'm just a mechanic. But I figure my bisabuelo Sammy knew what was what. He let you go, Hazel. My job is to tell you that it's okay. You and Frank – you're good together. We're all going to get through this. I hope you guys get a chance to be happy. Besides, Zhang couldn't tie his shoes without your help.'

'That's mean,' Hazel chided, but she felt like something was untangling inside her – a knot of tension she'd been carrying for weeks.

Leo really had changed. Hazel was starting to think she'd found a good friend.

'What happened to you when you were on your own?' she asked. 'Who did you meet?'

Leo's eye twitched. 'Long story. I'll tell you sometime, but I'm still waiting to see how it shakes out.'

'The universe is a machine,' Hazel said, 'so it'll be fine.'

'Hopefully.'

'As long as it's not one of your machines,' Hazel added. 'Because your machines never do what they're supposed to.'

'Yeah, ha-ha.' Leo summoned fire into his hand. 'Now, which way, Miss Underground?' Hazel scanned the path in front of them. About thirty feet down, the tunnel split into four smaller arteries, each one identical, but the one on the left radiated cold.

'That way,' she decided. 'It feels the most dangerous.'

'I'm sold,' said Leo.

They began their descent.

As soon as they reached the first archway, the polecat Gale found them.

She scurried up Hazel's side and curled around her neck, chittering crossly as if to say: Where have you been? You're late.

'Not the farting weasel again,' Leo complained. 'If that thing lets loose in close quarters like this, with my fire and all, we're gonna explode.'

Gale barked a polecat insult at Leo.

Hazel hushed them both. She could sense the tunnel ahead, sloping gently down for about three hundred feet, then opening into a large chamber. In that chamber was a presence … cold, heavy and powerful. Hazel hadn't felt anything like it since the cave in Alaska where Gaia had forced her to resurrect Porphyrion the giant king. Hazel had thwarted Gaia's plans that time, but she'd had to pull down the cavern, sacrificing her life and her mother's. She wasn't anxious to have a similar experience.

'Leo, be ready,' she whispered. 'We're getting close.'

'Close to what?'

A woman's voice echoed down the corridor: 'Close to me.'

A wave of nausea hit Hazel so hard her knees buckled. The whole world shifted. Her sense of direction, usually flawless underground, became completely unmoored.

She and Leo didn't seem to move, but suddenly they were three hundred feet down the corridor, at the entrance of the chamber.

'Welcome,' said the woman's voice. 'I've looked forward to this.'

Hazel's eyes swept the cavern. She couldn't see the speaker.

The room reminded her of the Pantheon in Rome, except this place had been decorated in Hades Modern.

The obsidian walls were carved with scenes of death: plague victims, corpses on the battlefield, torture chambers with skeletons hanging in iron cages – all of it embellished with precious gems that somehow made the scenes even more ghastly.

As in the Pantheon, the domed roof was a waffle pattern of recessed square panels, but here each panel was a stela – a grave marker with Ancient Greek inscriptions. Hazel wondered if actual bodies were buried behind them. With her underground senses out of whack, she couldn't be sure.

She saw no other exits. At the apex of the ceiling, where the Pantheon's skylight would've been, a circle of pure black stone gleamed, as if to reinforce the sense that there was no way out of this place – no sky above, only darkness.

Hazel's eyes drifted to the centre of the room.

'Yep,' Leo muttered. 'Those are doors, all right.'

Fifty feet away was a set of freestanding elevator doors, their panels etched in silver and iron. Rows of chains ran down either side, bolting the frame to large hooks in the floor.

The area around the doors was littered with black rubble. With a tightening sense of anger, Hazel realized that an ancient altar to Hades had once stood there. It had been destroyed to make room for the Doors of Death.

'Where are you?' she shouted.

'Don't you see us?' taunted the woman's voice. 'I thought Hecate chose you for your skill.'

Another bout of queasiness churned through Hazel's gut. On her shoulder, Gale barked and passed gas, which didn't help.

Dark spots floated in Hazel's eyes. She tried to blink them away, but they only turned darker. The spots consolidated into a twenty-foot-tall shadowy figure looming next to the Doors.

The giant Clytius was shrouded in the black smoke, just as she'd seen in her vision at the crossroads, but now Hazel could dimly make out his form – dragon-like legs with ash-coloured scales; a massive humanoid upper body encased in Stygian armour; long, braided hair that seemed to be made from smoke. His complexion was as dark as Death's (Hazel should know, since she had met Death personally). His eyes glinted cold as diamonds. He carried no weapon, but that didn't make him any less terrifying.

Leo whistled. 'You know, Clytius … for such a big dude, you've got a beautiful voice.'

'Idiot,' hissed the woman.

Halfway between Hazel and the giant, the air shimmered. The sorceress appeared.

She wore an elegant sleeveless dress of woven gold, her dark hair piled into a cone, encircled with diamonds and emeralds. Around her neck hung a pendant like a miniature maze, on a cord set with rubies that made Hazel think of crystallized blood drops.

The woman was beautiful in a timeless, regal way – like a statue you might admire but could never love. Her eyes sparkled with malice.

'Pasiphaë,' Hazel said. The woman inclined her head. 'My dear Hazel Levesque.'

Leo coughed. 'You two know each other? Like Underworld chums, or –'

'Silence, fool.' Pasiphaë's voice was soft, but full of venom. 'I have no use for demigod boys – always so full of themselves, so brash and destructive.'

'Hey, lady,' Leo protested. 'I don't destroy things much. I'm a son of Hephaestus.'

'A tinkerer,' snapped Pasiphaë. 'Even worse. I knew Daedalus. His inventions brought me nothing but trouble.'

Leo blinked. 'Daedalus … like, the Daedalus? Well, then, you should know all about us tinkerers. We're more into fixing, building, occasionally sticking wads of oilcloth in the mouths of rude ladies –'

'Leo.' Hazel put her arm across his chest. She had a feeling the sorceress was about to turn him into something unpleasant if he didn't shut up. 'Let me take this, okay?'

'Listen to your friend,' Pasiphaë said. 'Be a good boy and let the women talk.'

Pasiphaë paced in front of them, examining Hazel, her eyes so full of hate it made Hazel's skin tingle. The sorceress's power radiated from her like heat from a furnace. Her expression was unsettling and vaguely familiar …

Somehow, though, the giant Clytius unnerved Hazel more.

He stood in the background, silent and motionless except for the dark smoke pouring from his body, pooling around his feet. He was the cold presence Hazel had felt earlier – like a vast deposit of obsidian, so heavy that Hazel couldn't possibly move it, powerful and indestructible and completely devoid of emotion.

'Your – your friend doesn't say much,' Hazel noted.

Pasiphaë looked back at the giant and sniffed with disdain. 'Pray he stays silent, my dear. Gaia has given me the pleasure of dealing with you, but Clytius is my, ah, insurance. Just between you and me, as sister sorceresses, I think he's also here to keep my powers in check, in case I forget my new mistress's orders. Gaia is careful that way.'

Hazel was tempted to protest that she wasn't a sorceress. She didn't want to know how Pasiphaë planned to 'deal' with them, or how the giant kept her magic in check. But she straightened her back and tried to look confident.

'Whatever you're planning,' Hazel said, 'it won't work. We've cut through every monster Gaia's put in our path. If you're smart, you'll get out of our way.'

Gale the polecat gnashed her teeth in approval, but Pasiphaë didn't seem impressed.

'You don't look like much,' the sorceress mused. 'But then you demigods never do. My husband, Minos, king of Crete? He was a son of Zeus. You would never have known it by looking at him. He was almost as scrawny as that one.' She flicked a hand towards Leo.

'Wow,' muttered Leo. 'Minos must've done something really horrible to deserve you.'

Pasiphaë's nostrils flared. 'Oh … you have no idea. He was too proud to make the proper sacrifices to Poseidon, so the gods punished me for his arrogance.'

'The Minotaur,' Hazel suddenly remembered.

The story was so revolting and grotesque Hazel had always shut her ears when they told it at Camp Jupiter. Pasiphaë had been cursed to fall in love with her husband's prize bull. She'd given birth to the Minotaur – half man, half bull.

Now, as Pasiphaë glared daggers at her, Hazel realized why her expression was so familiar.

The sorceress had the same bitterness and hatred in her eyes that Hazel's mother sometimes had. In her worst moments, Marie Levesque would look at Hazel as if Hazel were a monstrous child, a curse from the gods, the source of all Marie's problems. That's why the Minotaur story bothered Hazel – not just the repellent idea of Pasiphaë and the bull but the idea that a child, any child, could be considered a monster, a punishment to its parents, to be locked away and hated. To Hazel, the Minotaur had always seemed like a victim in the story.

'Yes,' Pasiphaë said at last. 'My disgrace was unbearable. After my son was born and locked in the Labyrinth, Minos refused to have anything to do with me. He said I had ruined his reputation! And do you know what happened to Minos, Hazel Levesque? For his crimes and his pride? He was rewarded. He was made a judge of the dead in the Underworld, as if he had any right to judge others! Hades gave him that position. Your father.'

'Pluto, actually.'

Pasiphaë sneered. 'Irrelevant. So you see, I hate demigods as much as I hate the gods. Any of your brethren who survive the war, Gaia has promised to me, so that I may watch them die slowly in my new domain. I only wish I had more time to torture you two properly. Alas –'

In the center of the room, the Doors of Death made a pleasant chiming sound. The green UP button on the right side of the frame began to glow. The chains shook.

'There, you see?' Pasiphaë shrugged apologetically. 'The Doors are in use. Twelve minutes, and they will open.'

Hazel's gut trembled almost as much as the chains. 'More giants?'

'Thankfully, no,' said the sorceress. 'They are all accounted for – back in the mortal world and in place for the final assault.' Pasiphaë gave her a cold smile. 'No, I would imagine the Doors are being used by someone else … someone unauthorized.'

Leo inched forward. Smoke rose from his fists. 'Percy and Annabeth.'

Hazel couldn't speak. She wasn't sure whether the lump in her throat was from joy or frustration. If their friends had made it to the Doors, if they were really going to show up here in twelve minutes …

'Oh, not to worry.' Pasiphaë waved her hand dismissively. 'Clytius will handle them. You see, when the chime sounds again, someone on our side needs to push the UP button or the Doors will fail to open and whoever is inside – poof. Gone. Or perhaps Clytius will let them out and deal with them in person. That depends on you two.'

Hazel's mouth tasted like tin. She didn't want to ask, but she had to. 'How exactly does it depend on us?'

'Well, obviously, we need only one set of demigods alive,' Pasiphaë said. 'The lucky two will be taken to Athens and sacrificed to Gaia at the Feast of Hope.'

'Obviously,' Leo muttered.

'So will it be you two or your friends in the elevator?' The sorceress spread her hands. 'Let's see who is still alive in twelve … actually, eleven minutes, now.'

The cavern dissolved into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

**LXXIII- 73**

 **Hazel**

 **Author's Note: This chapter was inspired by a chapter from the real book. Initially, I was going to just use that chapter, but a few doubts stopped me from doing that. First of all, the actual chapter from the book had a few paragraphs that didn't correlate with my plotline. Second of all, I wanted this to be my story, and I wanted to be more creative with this project. Last of all, I didn't want to let you guys down by not writing anything again. So here is chapter four of my story. Enjoy!**

Pasiphae thrusted her arm forward, and a beam of blue light rushed towards Hazel and Leo. They ducked just in time, but the beam of light seemed to disappear right before it hit them. Hazel and Leo slowly rose, looking around in confusion. Just then, a sphere of blue light blasted Hazel in the chest, blowing her back so that she crashed into the wall. She had hit her head against the wall hard. The whole room seemed so disoriented, Hazel could barely see straight.

"What do you think?" Pasiphae inquired. "I used magic to make time stop for that beam. It is a highly advanced technique. You'll never defeat that."

"Hazel!" Leo screamed. He stood protectively over her, fire in hand.

"Hahaha!" Pasiphae laughed cruelly. "Do you think that measly flame is any match against my power?"

"She's right, Leo." Hazel croaked with anger. "Fire won't do anything to magic. I have to do this." It was true. Hazel knew that the only way to defeat magic was magic. She had to defeat Pasiphae to save her friends, to free Percy and Annabeth from behind those nearby elevator doors.

"You won't have a choice once I'm through with him." Pasiphae replied. With one flick of her hand, Pasiphae enveloped Leo with a layer of fog. Suddenly, Leo had a look of shock on his face. He started screaming, a horrible scream that jarred Hazel out of her daze. Hazel didn't know what Pasiphae did to Leo, but obviously it wasn't good. As steadily as she could, she rose to her feet, pulling Leo behind her.

"Too bad," Pasiphae murmured with pity. "There are only six minutes until your friends get out of that elevator. Gaea won't need you, it would be easier to control your friends since they will be so weak from Tartarus. Looks like your time has come." Pasiphae thrust her hand upwards. A transparent shell started surrounding the still weak Hazel and the still screaming Leo. Hazel was too shocked to speak at first, when the clear dome started to envelope them and close at the top. Finally, Hazel was able to focus.

"What's going on?" Hazel screamed at Pasiphae. Pasiphae just chuckled. Suddenly, green, rancid smelling smoke started to appear in the dome. It smelled worse than Gale the polecat's farts. Before she could react, the smoke started choking her, forcing Hazel to clutch her throat. Next to her, Leo still seemed oblivious, but he grabbed his throat as if he could feel to gas too. His eyes were still wide with terror. Panicking, Hazel banged her fists as hard as she could on the clear walls, but they didn't budge.

Outside, Pasiphae seem to clucked her tongue with disapproval, the sound inaudible. She held up two fingers. Two fingers. Hazel's thoughts were foggy from the smoke, still strangling her, but she realized. Two minutes until the elevator doors opened. Hysterically, she kept banging on the walls, with less than hopeful results. Pasiphae started laughing and turned away, facing the doors.

 _No, it can't end this way._ Hazel thought. _I have to save my friends. Frank is still out there..._ As her vision started to darken, she used the rest of her energy for one last trick.


	5. Chapter 5

**LXXIV- 74**

 **Leo**

 **Author's Note: To make this story more interesting and realistic, I added in a few details. Please don't criticize me if you didn't see some of these things in the other books. These details were necessary to bring my story to life.**

After being in so many gruesome fights, going through so many dangers, and seeing so many revolting horrors, Leo thought he couldn't have been through worse. He was wrong.

The last thing he remembered before it happened, Hazel was hurt and Pasiphae thrust her hand towards Leo. A thick layer of mist covered him. He couldn't see anything. Leo feared he was losing his mind.

When his vision had cleared, the entire scenery changed. He was standing in a workshop. Leo gasped. The workbench in the far right corner, the tools hanging from the wall near the door, the dent on the floor where he had accidentally dropped an anvil…This was his mom's workshop. What the Hephaestus was he doing in here? He looked at his hands, now translucent. He jumped back in surprise. He had turned into a ghost. Before he could figure out what the heck was going on, the workshop's door opened. Two people walked inside.

Leo screamed a little louder and a little girlier than he would have liked. The people who walked inside were a little boy and a woman. That wasn't why Leo screamed. The little boy was… it was him as an eight-year old. That couldn't be right. His diminutive height, his same black and curly hair, the troublesome smile that he wore both then and now. There was no doubt, it was Leo. If that wasn't bad enough, he looked at the woman who was with him. Leo almost cried at seeing her. Her dark hair tied in a bandanna, her twinkling and tired blue eyes, her friendly smile. It was his mom. Leo wanted to run to her, but he stayed put.

The two didn't seem to notice Ghost Leo, and they walked over to the worktable. They started working on their latest project. Young Leo was beside himself with joy, watching his mom work with the tools. His mom, Esperanza Valdez, was working with intense concentration. That wasn't possible, his mom was dead. Leo was still quite confused, and overcome with nostalgia. The blouse his mom wore, it looked familiar. Then, Leo remembered. It was the same blouse that she wore on the night that…

Oh no, Leo thought with sudden realization. Oh no no no.

"Get out of there!" he screamed. The two didn't seem to notice. A second later, Young Leo's hand caught on fire. Then, a long line of fire ran across the worktable, setting their project on fire. Young Leo screamed.

"My fire power," Young Leo exclaimed. "It's become uncontrollable!" Ghost Leo stood watching them in horror, unable to move. This couldn't be happening, not again. The fire quickly spread, already consuming half of the room.  
"Run!" his mom shouted desperately to Young Leo. "Leo, I won't make it. You can. Don't spend the rest of your life thinking this is your fault. There is something much more dangerous doing this." Young Leo stared at his mother, speechless, with a tear trickling down his cheek.

"I love you." Mrs. Valdez whispered, almost calmly. "Now go, Leo." The terrified and grief-stricken Young Leo turned and fled the room, sobbing now. After he left, the entire room was set into flames, taking his mother once again. Ghost Leo stayed paralyzed by his own fear and grief, staring at the wall of fire that seemed to go right through him.

"No!" he screamed. "Gaea, you can't do this! Not again!" Just when he thought he was going to collapse from grief, the scene before him dissolved, and everything turned black.

* * *

Once his vision cleared again, he was standing in front of the workshop, angry with flames taking over the building. Leo couldn't take it anymore. He curled into a ball and sobbed.

Oh, don't cry now. A gigantic voice boomed, seemingly coming from every direction. He raised his head, looking all over. Finally, he looked in front of him, to see a huge face swirling in the dirt, the eyes half-closed. Leo yelped in surprise.

There are much worse things ahead of you. The face spoke. Leo immediately knew who it was.

"What do you want, Gaea?" Leo quivered, anger and despair mixing in his voice.

You think things are hard now? Gaea sneered cruelly. You just wait, young hero. For the third time, his vision went black.

* * *

When he could see again, he looked around. It seemed as though he was still in his ghost form, but that was the only thing that was the same. The sky was blood-red, the ground was a disgusting purple, and the air smelled like sulfur. What kind of place was this? To his left, he heard groaning. Titans, hellhounds, arai, and every other monster he could think of were crowded in a group. Then he realized: it was Tartarus.

"The Door of the Death are closed!" a Titan groaned. "What are we going to do?" The other monsters sighed and shook their heads in hopelessness.

Percy and Annabeth did it! Leo thought. Finally, something went right. Unfortunately, he spoke a moment too soon.

"At least we took one of those stupid demigod heroes." A Cyclopes said. He gestured over to a corpse. It was… it was… Leo fell to his knees.

"Annabeth!" he cried. Why did she have to die? Sure, they weren't best friends, but they had been through so much together, and had really grown close. She was the smartest one in the group, always getting them out of trouble. How could Gaea be so cruel? What was he going to tell the others?

Leo started getting a serious case of vertigo. Everything started spinning. He blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6

LXXV- 75

Hazel

 **Author's note: Hey guys! I'm sorry for the delay of this chapter, the summer's been a bit busy so far. Enjoy!**

"Ahhh…" Hazel groaned. She woke up on the floor, a huge headache blooming in her cranium. Her whole body was sore and exhausted. It would have been nice to pass out at that moment, again.

What's happening? Hazel thought drowsily. Oh yeah, we were trapped in a magic bubble and… the Doors of Death are about to open! Did my trick work?

She pushed her hand forward, trying to detect any sort of barrier in front of her. The space in front of her was empty… there was no barrier. It had worked! Hazel had never tried teleporting before.

 _Wait, then where are we?_ Hazel inquired. She looked up, and flinched, startled. Pasiphae was right in front of them, her back turned, looking at the Doors of Death. Hands on her hips, and and a tall and confident posture. Clytius was standing in in front of Pasiphae, probably preparing to take Percy and Annabeth once they came out of the doors. Neither seemed to notice the kid on the floor behind her. It should have been two kids… what happened with Leo? Hazel looked frantically around her, trying to find him.

Hazel noticed something in the corner of her eye, to her left. She whirled around to look in that direction. A spot of light appeared, expanding until grew into the size of an average human. The light disappeared suddenly, with Leo replacing it. Hazel almost gasped with joy, but she then remembered of the oblivious enemy that was right in front of them. But joy turned to horror when she noticed that something was definitely wrong. His eyes were the size of quarters, he was rocking back and forth, and he hardly seemed to notice what was going on. Something seemed to be haunting him… eating at him from the inside out. What did Pasiphae do to him? Hazel was going to get revenge on her for harming him and bringing so much trouble to the rest of the team. That's right, Frank, Nico, Jason, and Piper were still out there, probably battling for their lives. She hoped they were alright.

Hazel reached over and shook Leo's shoulder. His eyes suddenly became smaller, muscles suddenly relaxing. He finally came to his senses, looking around frantically and realizing what was going on. Hazel tapped him on the shoulder and Leo turned around. Are you ok? She mouthed. Slowly, he nodded. But Hazel could tell that he was not ok. The mischievous gleam was no longer in his eyes, and tears were threatening to spill down his cheeks. It was so heart breaking that Hazel wanted to hug him, but the doors were going to open at any second.

"Clytius, the doors are about to open!" Pasiphae cheered. "Time to obtain Gaea's sacrifices. Hazel and Leo are presumably dead, and the kids in the elevator will be too weak to fight us. It's perfect!" A wicked bubbliness was evident in her voice. It made Hazel sick.

Through all that had happened so far, Hazel was having mixed emotions. There was fear. Were Annabeth and Percy ok? What happened to Leo? Would they really pull off attacking Pasiphae when she least expected it? There was anger. How dare Pasiphae put them all through so much!? When was Gaea going to be done with her twisted games? There was pain. Hazel was so worn out. She had never used so much magic at once. Yellow spots danced in front of her eyes. Her muscles felt like they were melting. The only thing keeping her running was grim determination. Yet somehow, there was hope. The transportation spell had worked. Annabeth and Percy had made it. They had the advantage of not being noticed by Pasiphae. It was impossible to guess what the outcome of this story would be.

"It's time." Pasiphae rejoiced. "Open the doors." Hazel held her breath in anticipation as Clytius strode over to the doors and pressed the "up" button. The doors whooshed open with a pleasant _ding_. With a sickening thud, Percy fell face first onto the ground. Tears sprung into Hazels eyes. Poor Percy… Next to her, Leo still looked shell shocked, like he knew something bad was about to happen. But wait… where was Annabeth? Oh no, it couldn't be… Next to her, Leo had tears streaming down his face. He somehow knew that Annabeth… no, she refused to believe it. "What?" Pasiphae howled. "Where's the girl? Ugh… we're just going to have to take one of the other demigod scums once they come. I'll just capture this one anyway."

Just then, flames scorched the back of Pasiphae's dress. She screamed in pain and horror, and turned around to find leo and Hazel, white hot flames licking his hand. Ah Leo, always thinking on his feet despite troubling times. A good warrior and mechanic.

"Sorry, you babbling witch." Leo grinned, seeming to come out of his shock. "He's not going anywhere."


	7. Chapter 7

**LXXVI- 76**

 **Leo**

Pure rage and energy flowed through his veins. It was up to him now, to destroy this witch. The witch who destroyed all in her path and didn't give a second thought. The witch who was responsible for so much harm to his friends. The witch who was going to die. Leo looked at almost unconscious Hazel and almost conscious Percy. It was payback time.

"Die!" Leo shrieked. He hurled a giant fireball towards Pasiphae. It was just about to hit, when daggers appeared in midair and pierced Leo's attack. The fire disappeared, and the daggers were coming right at him. Leo ducked, but the daggers changed direction quickly and hit him in his right arm. Blood poured from a long gash, and pain erupted throughout his body. Red liquid dripped onto the smooth tile floor.

"Leo!" Hazel screamed and Percy croaked.

"I'm not done with you!" Leo screamed. Quick as lightning, a giant wall of fire appeared. It went from the ceiling to the floor.

"Stop, Leo!" Hazel yelled with a hoarse voice. "You're going to burn the ceiling and crash it down on us!" At this point, Leo couldn't hear. He was too filled with madness and anger that he couldn't control. With a quick hand motion, the wall of fire closed in on Pasiphae and Clytius. It was about to collapse on itself and envelop Pasiphae and Clytius, when Pasiphae created a barrier to block the fire. Whatever fire went past the barrier was absorbed by Clytius. Blood was flowing freely out of Leo's arm. He almost lost consciousness. Meanwhile, the ceiling cracked. They had to be quick.

The world closed in on just Leo, Clytius, and Pasiphae. Leo wanted to hold the burden of a hero on his own shoulders. It threatened to make him collapse.


	8. Chapter 8

LXXVII- 77

Percy

 _So useless._ Percy thought. _All I can do is lay here while my friend fights for all of us._ He was just starting to blink away all the black spots and tears from his eyes when he watched the fight unfold. Something had to be done. Leo couldn't just die. Percy wasn't going to let the lost blood go to waste.

"We can do this together, Leo!" Percy croaked. A wall seemed to shatter in front of Leo's eyes. He looked over.

"Surround her with a sphere of fire so she can't escape!" Percy groaned. He barely had strength for one last attack. As a son of Poseidon, he could control water. All liquid contains water.

"What are you planning?" Pasiphae sneered. "It's not going to work!" She tried to sound confident, but Percy could hear a hint of fear in her voice.

As if he was conducting an orchestra, Leo moved his hands and created a sphere of fire around Pasiphae. It blocked Percy's view. This would just have to be a lucky shot. Using all his concentration, he imagined the pool of Leo's blood on the floor. He froze the blood into blades and shot them towards Pasiphae (he hoped). She could have blocked the blood knives, but her magic was weakening too. Screams of agony from inside the fire bubble filled Percy's ears. It probably worked.

"How pathetic!" Shrieks of pain exploded from inside the sphere. "I can't die like this! Leaving before I get revenge on you demigod scums! I'm warning you, someone out there will get you when I couldn't!"

Just then, Leo fell to his knees, unconscious. The flame barrier died along with Leo's strength. Percy was afraid Pasiphae hadn't died, but he could see that she was clearly dead once the fire disappeared. Red ice stuck up from her chest, along with more blood pooled around her body. As the ceiling started to crack, Percy fainted. His last view was a chunk of concrete falling from above.


End file.
